For both educators and pupils, getting back from the holiday into the classroom to work can be a challenging thing. To avoid spending the first week wondering where to start and how to finally gather yourself to engage in some meaningful work, some preparation is needed.
Before going to school after the holidays, all children are used to sleep longer and doing whatever they wish but with the new school season starting, all these habits have to change. As the result, their attention might be a little bit different than usual because they need some time to readjust to the school routine.
Diving right into a lot of homework after the holidays is a bad thing because of these reasons. To ensure that the students will deliver better results after holidays, it is recommended to make some adjustments and incorporate homework into the routine gradually.
Starting a new routine can be overwhelming. Creating a visual schedule of daily activities can help reduce some of the back to school jitters. Think about adding wake up time, when to be at the bus stop, after school activity times and locations, homework schedule, dinner time and bed time to a dry erase calendar. This is an easy way to make edits as needed and before you know it, you’ll be a pro at your new routine!
Just like a change in routine can be overwhelming, so can a new workload and classroom. To help your child stay focused, take a few minutes to show them how to concentrate on their breathing. A few deep breaths can recharge the mind. In class, taking notes and asking questions may also help students say focused on the lesson.
Another great way to get students back on track and rejuvenate the motivation to learn is to arrange some appropriate back-to-school activities. They can be a perfect welcome for the students who are not ready to learn as usual. Here is the list of ten great examples of these activities.
Classroom Promise
The idea of this activity is to write a mission statement, pledge, motto, or a promise at the beginning of the school year to determine the desired outcomes in the end. These promises may target specific responsibilities of the students, so they can also help you with the discipline in the class. For example, some of the students may be advised to “show positive attitude for learning” or “improve knowledge of English.”
Holiday Memory Book
The children have probably accumulated a lot of great memories about their holidays. Maybe some of them went on trips or visited their grandparents. These are stories that can be shared with the class in a holiday memory book, which will be an attribute of the classroom. When students came in for the first day in school, ask them to describe their holidays’ experience and prepare short narratives that can be added into this book.
New Year Resolutions
If the holiday the students return from is the New Year, it is a perfect opportunity to engage them into a learning process. Just like with the classroom promise, ask the students to reflect on the memories of the previous year and define the things that they wish to change in the year that just started.
Writing Prompts
Some writing is a creative and calm activity that could be arranged at the end of the first day. Do not provide complex topics, have the students write about their holidays’ experience, the best gift they have ever received, their parents, or other topics
About Me
Have the students write some short bios of themselves that will act as introductions for their new classmates. These bios can be also added with pictures and drawings and hang on the wall of the classroom to be discussed later.
There are so many great strategies in addition to these that can help students have a successful school year. And this doesn’t stop at the kids! Parents and teachers can apply these and other tips to reduce stress during the year. Stay positive and focused, participate in the lessons and remember – learning can be fun, it’s all about what you make it